Sometimes the very best inspiration comes out of seemingly nowhere.
This last weekend, I hosted three of my dearest colleagues at my home in London. We have dreamed up a new collaboration — all the better to serve you with 🙂 — and were putting the final touches on the strategy and structure of it all.
Two things happened recently that have impacted this entire thing quite significantly. Taken on their own, they are interesting enough, yes, but when put together, they’ve come to mean everything.
(Alchemy is everywhere, dear reader!)
The first thing is that I have been increasingly aware of is the upcoming celebrations for Canada’s 150th Birthday in July. I have been pondering what that means for me, and just what it is that I love most about being Canadian (aside from the fact that we have a delightful Prime Minister). I’ve been thinking “all things Canada,” from saying “sorry” all the time, to why our beer is better, to the Rocky Mountains and our incredible culture that celebrates diversity, to the Hip (because there is no thinking of Canada without thinking of their music) to yes, even our iconic animals and habitats.
And the second thing (and this is a bit hard to admit but here it goes) is that I have really been trying to decide just exactly how to tell people what makes me different from other coaches. (Yes, I know that it seems weird that I do this very thing for my clients — help them distinguish themselves in the marketplace — but can’t quite nail it for myself, but you do know the story of the shoemaker’s kids, right? So yeah, that.)
Anyways, as I pondered Canada and all that makes it great, and I thought about my own work and all that makes that great, I was also in the process of finding a photograph to use for the promotions for an upcoming event that I am hosting in June.
So there I am, scrolling thousands of  images, searching for inspiration for this event because I had really zero idea what I wanted the image to look and feel like, and WHAM.
I find a picture of a beaver.
(Hey, hey, get your minds out of the gutter there folks! It wasn’t THAT kind of beaver shot! Sheesh!)
Anyways, suddenly it all made sense in some way that I couldn’t quite explain. I was going to use a picture of a beaver for this event! Yes! A beaver — an iconic symbol of Canada. What better way to promote an event that is happening in Canada mere days before the 150th birthday celebrations of our great nation?!?
I was excited. Giggling, actually, as I put this all together. I was having the time of my life, I tell you! I even sent the image via text to a few colleagues just because I couldn’t contain my excitement! It was just that good.
Now flash forward 48 hours. I am sitting in my dining room with my three colleagues, hammering out the details of our new collaboration. We talk about the event and in my excitement, we talk about the beaver image I selected…we laugh…it’s kinda late…we’ve had wine…we titter a bit about beaver (our minds did go into the gutter for a moment or two…) and then the meaning of it all just suddenly hits me, seemingly out of nowhere.
I AM a Beaver.
That’s what makes me different in what I do!
I am a freakin’ Beaver.
Beaver medicine, according to www.shamanicjourney.com, is all about collaboration. Working together with your team, each individual using their unique gifts, everyone using the resources you have available to you, and seeing infinite possibilities as you go.
Beavers are creators. They have a vision of what they want to build, and as they build (carefully, thoughtfully, collaboratively), they improve things as they go such that in the end, the reality is even better than the original vision.
And that is what I do. I work with my clients, with their businesses, with their clients, and their teams, and with my team, too, to create, together, a business that exceeds the dream with which we began.
I am a freakin’ beaver.
And I suspect you may be, too.
If you read my articles a few weeks back about the End of the Age of Guruism, and the Dawn of the New Era of Collaboration and Partnership, then you know that I have been working with Beaver Medicine for longer than I realized.
And if this has been resonating with you, then you, dear reader, may be a Beaver, too.
Welcome to the dam, Beave, welcome to the dam.
Fully completely,
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Rebecca Liston helps her clients predict, pivot, and compete in an increasingly complex global marketplace. Her clients quickly uncover the root of their challenges and know the actions to take to overcome them. A six-time nominee for the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Award, Rebecca combines business strategy with intuition, giving her clients the edge on forward-thinking, elegant answers to their most complicated problems. Her clients are entrepreneurs with CEO-mindsets and executives with entrepreneurial instincts. She is based in London, Ontario. What if you could get the answer to your biggest business challenge, in one sitting? Visit rebeccaliston.com to find out more.
